The Smith Total Ankle, from Wright Manufacturing Company, is a successful prosthetic implant well known to the art. In such a cup and dome implant system, a tibial component has, for example, a stem (fin) that is inserted transversely, in an anterior to posterior direction, into a notch cut in the distal portion of the tibia. As fine a provision as it is, a problem with such an arrangement is that in the insertion of the tibial component, force such as by pounding is employed, and the ankle component with its fin may be pounded inadvertently through and past its intended mark in the tibia.
It would be desirable to ameliorate or even overcome this.
In implants such as for the hip and shoulder, Morse or other tapers intraprosthetically connect ball and stem components.